>>24737189Even though a lot of people are advocating for a less edgy approach to a game, there will inevitably be edge if you focus on anything other than the 8 gyms-champion stuff.
Even
>>24737432 tries too hard to blend the main formula and just edgy villiain bullshit together, at least from the perspective of someone who wants these games to be purely 7+.
I'd actually recommend just not caring about how 'edgy' the game is (seeing as it is an overused criticism and barely applicable in most instances - I mean, fuck, even the original RBY had a lot of edgy moments [Lavender Town, TR, your rival, Koga, etc] if you really want to cherrypick) and just trying to make your own story. How about an alien invasion? Deoxys, Parasect, and Clefable/fairy are a few instances where aliens interact with the Pokemon world, why not base a story around a bunch of Pokemon infected/possessed by an alien virus? How about a game where you get to be a detective and go around solving crimes with your trusty Pokemon without any overarching plot, and no final boss? How about a game where a new region is discovered, and you're a spelunker looking for new rarities, with the bosses or enemies just being really strong Pokemon in the wild?
Most people really try to stick to the main outline because they think it's weird when the games deviate from it but that doesn't explain the success and niche of the Colosseum games or PMD. In the end, its the gameplay that should truly matter, and even if that involves Shadow/Dark Lugia, self-inserts, death/murder or whatever, then so be it. This is one of the main things people fail to realize about games like Reborn - despite being deviantart tier in terms of story, the expansion on the mechanics of how battles work is genius and the world itself is large and full of things to do.
tl;dr, don't care too much about the story (but don't care if it doesn't fit the main outline) but expand upon the mechanics and creativity of the gameplay
